Another hitch in Charles County road
The state has informed Charles County it needs another six months to decide whether to grant a key wetlands permit for the controversial Cross County Connector.
In a letter to county officials, the Maryland Department of the Environment said that because it had not finished reviewing all outstanding issues raised around the $60 million highway project, it would not be able to grant the permit by the end of this month, as required by state regulations. Amanda Sigillito, MDE's chief of nontidal wetlands, suggested the county needed to request a six-month delay in the decision or the state would feel obligated to deny its request.
This is the second delay over the county's request for permission to fill seven acres of wetlands, most along Mattawoman Creek, a tributary of the Potomac River and a prime breeding stream for yellow perch. Last month, MDE had extended its decision until Nov. 17.
County officials want to build the highway to handle traffic from some 8,000 new homes planned along its route and to link the county's growth areas. Melvin C. Beall Jr., director of the county's planning and growth management department, said he planned to request the delay.
"It kind of puts us between a rock and a hard place," said Beall. Though the state's letter said it needed additional information to make a decision, Beall said last week he'd not been asked for any new data by either MDE or the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which also oversees construction in wetlands.
MDE officials say the delay is "routine," and the information needed is mainly technical in nature.
Opponents of the highway hope it's more than that. They have decried the loss of 74 acres of forest, and argued the highway would not be needed if the county curtailed sprawling suburban development. They are pushing for a thorough review of those and other issues in an Environmental Impact Statement.
Bonnie Bick, one of the opponents, wrote in an email that "there needs to be the political will to have regulatory agencies get involved in influencing land use policy at the local level. Deny permits for sprawl-inducing highways that destroy wetlands, forests and watersheds."
I report on the environment and Chesapeake Bay. A native of West Virginia, I have focused mainly on Maryland's environment since moving here in 1983. Along the way, I've crewed aboard a skipjack in the bay, canoed under city streets up the Jones Fall from the Inner Harbor, and gone deep underground in a western Maryland coal mine. Recently, I have been covering the growth and development transforming the landscape. I love seafood, rambles in the country and good stories. I hope to share some here.
